Collapsible ironing table



March 4, 1941- u. K. JOHANNSEN COLLAPSIBLE IRONING TABLE Filed Oct. 12, 1939 INVENTOR. BY U00 A. JOHA/VIVS'EN OZi A/ ATTORNEY.

Patent ed Mar. 4 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE COLLAPSIBLE IRONIN G TABLE Application October 12, 1939, Serial No. 299,056

.2 Claims.

My invention relates to an inherently simple collapsible ironing board stand of the fully automatic tripod chassis type particularly adapted to meet household needs, in which metal legs fold in unison fiatwise beneath the table board when not extended for use. A pair of complementary rear legs have corresponding ends pivotally attached beneath the top board, said legs being arranged to spread laterally to attain the desired stability when erected and still compactly fold within the longitudinal board edges, when col-lapsed. A single rigid front leg of stamped sheet metal is pivoted to the board and linked to such rear leg structure for coordinated movement. 15 The present leg actuating linkage comprises mated tie rods which divergently interconnect the foot region of the front leg with an intermediate pivot on each rear leg. Said leg gear further comprises a pair of brace links of the toggle jointed type that interconnect the upper front leg region with the respective intermediate rear leg pivots. In order to allow of the rear leg spread without any binding effects, said brace links are herein bridged in a novel manner by a 5 conveniently reached cross piece which when gripped, serves to actuate my leg gear in an easily understood manner by housewives and others who may not be mechanically inclined. This problem although apparently simple, has in fact been found dificult to solve in a wholly satisfactory commercial manner without requiring the use of both hands for linkage manipulation.

To meet the cited need, corresponding brace link ends are rearwardly extended beyond a contiguous toggle joint to mount said grip piece thereacross. Each terminal region of such cross piece has a cam device associated therewith which cooperatively impose a timed friction drag and prevent rebound after the jointed brace links 40 have been thrown through their respective aligned dead center positions upon reaching, erected leg position.

The object of my improvements is to provide for a sturdy, foldable metal understructure that can be productively fabricated and assembled at low cost and one that will prove extremely simple to actuate by uninitiated household users, and when erected shall possess adequate leg rigidity against sidewise sway.

Reference is had to the accompanying one sheet of drawings which are illustrative of a preferred embodiment, and in which drawings:

Figs. 1 and 2 respectively show an edge and a bottom view of my foldable ironing board understructure when fully collapsed.

Fig. 3 represents an elevational side view of the same understructure in its erected position, and Fig; 4 depicts a rear end view thereof.

Fig. 3A illustrates a certain modified board pintle disposition,

Figs. 5 and 6 respectively detail on an enlarged scale, certain fragments of my brace link structure together with its bridging grip piece.

Referring more specifically to these disclosures,

I0 and l I respectively designate reversely 10 mounted rear legs of relatively thin angle iron stock, each provided with a fiat leaf end that is pivotally attached at I2. A sheet metal rear bracket [3 is aflixed crosswise of the table top or ironing board M to include reversely inclined pintle receiving ears. Such bracket may generally follow the similar structure shown in Figs. 9 and 10 of my prior Patent #2,091,946 dated Aug. 31, 1937, to include complementary guide straps [5 that automatically spread apart the floor contacting rear leg ends when erected as in Fig. 4 hereof. When folded, such guide-straps further serve to positively swing said legs inwardly of the parallel board edges as in Fig. 2.

My trough shaped front leg I6 is also of the rigid rectilinear type preferably stamped up from sheet metal into 'a cross-sectionally channeled profile to include companion flanges such as I! and I8 that extend continuously throughout the leg length. Such web interconnected flanges are purposely tapered laterally (see Fig. 2) and respectively attached at their diverging ends by separate tubular rivets such as H) and H) to pivotally nest between laterally spaced ears 20 and 20' depending from the aflixed front bracket 2| to constitute board pivot means. Such laterally rigid tripod leg mounting affords ample rigidity when erected, particularly when interlinked for movement in unison in a common direction in the following improved manner.

Each rear leg may be provided with an intermediate pivot 22 or 22' interposed medially between the leg ends. The foot contacting region of the frontleg is equipped with a toe pivot 23;

a pair of diverging tie rods such as 25 and 25' respectively interconnect said toe pivot with a different intermediate pivot. To complete the present leg actuating gear, a pair of laterally spaced toggle or rule jointed brace links 26 and 26 of flat sided stock. further interconnect the axially spaced front leg pivots l9 and IS with the respective rear leg pivot-s 22 and 22'.

Each forward brace section such as 2'! (see Figs. 3 and 5) is extended rearwardly of the toggle pivot 28 thereof to constitute an aligned respective rear brace sections 33 are shown reversely kinked laterally at 3B in an outwardly divergent relation to the link projection 29 thereof. One or both ends of my manipulative cross piece 31 may each .be shaped to provide for a timed cam edge such as 34 (see Fig. 6) arranged in erected table position, to exert a .frictional drag by thrusting against an inner side of its hooked brace section 33.

The Fig. layout of the fixed length cross piece 3| is such that my toggle linkage will automatically and unobstructedly accommodate itself to the rear leg spread, although all the linkage rivets may be held to a reasonably neat diametral fit free from clearance play. vThe precise board hook-up of the forward end of the brace link 26 is immaterial in that it may also be pivoted at I9" in a displaced relation to the front leg pivot 39 as in Fig. 3A.

When the legs are erected, jointed brace link components 2'! and 33 are intended to overtravel through their toggle dead center position 35 and to throw the toggle rivet 28into its locked extreme lower position as stopped by the associated hook element shown in full outline by Fig. 3. In order to permit leg'collapse, the exposed cross piece-3l may readily be manually grasped by reaching through the rear legs (see Fig. 4) to simultaneously raise the toggle rivets upwardly in the arrowed direction beyond their respective dead center positions and break the locked toggle braces, whereupon the released leg linkage will freely pass through the respective dotted Fig; 3 leg positions into full collapse as indicated in Fig. 1. When folded as in Fig. 2, the guide straps its will snugly overlie the divergent brace links 26 and 26' without interference.

To unfold such table, a rear leg end may be 1 gripped by the operator while the board is held upright and its rear end rests upon a floor. By dextrous manipulation, all the several legs may be rapidly thrown into their fully erected relation with respect to such board, whereupon the T toggle pivots 28 will by momentum be carried beyond their respective dead centers 35 and cause the cams 34 to become snugly wedged against the contiguous brace link components 33. The resulting frictional drag effectively counteracts the tendency to rebound into an unlocked link position.

Said cams are hereintimed to come into play only when said toggle pivot closely approaches a dead center position. Accordingly, a small onward impact Sllfi'lCBS to obviate linkage collapse when the upright board is subsequently ,tilted into a horizontal position about the toggle locked rear leg ends. As an'alternative unfolding operation, the collapsed legs of a horizontally upheld board may be faced downwardly, then by a jerk,

such legs may be deftly and automatically thrown into their fully erected Fig. 3 position without toggle alignment.

.need for any preliminary latch release. In practice, the cited cam thrust together with the stop hooks 32 augment lateral rigidity of the spreadable rear leg structure in erected position. The relatively wide ear spacing between the front bracket pivots cooperatively contributes rigidity to the forward portion of an erected ironing table.

Other advantages inherent in my foldable chassis are believed apparent to those skilled in this art, it being obvious that the same underlying structural improvements may be applied in associations other than ironing boards and that Various modifications in design may be resorted to in likewise carrying out my illustrative embodiment, all without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention, heretofore described and more particularly defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

'1. In a collapsible-ironing table of the tripod leg type or the like adapted to be automatically unfolded into erected position, a top board, a pair of rear legs having corresponding ends pivotally attached to the bottom face of said board, a rigid front leg having one end attached to said face by board pivot means in a forward relation to the rear leg pivots, a toe pivot located adjacent the floor contacting region of said front leg, an intermediate pivot for each such rear leg, a pair of tie rods respectively interconnecting the toe pivot with said intermediate pivots, a pair of sectionalized brace links respectively interconnecting the intermediate pivots withsaid board by pintles located adjacent the board pivot means, each such brace link comprising a forward section that between the ends thereof is toggle jointed to a fiat sided rearward section to providefor a link projection, and a grippable cross piece fixedly bridging the respective tip regions of such link projections, one terminal of said cross piece being equipped with an overhanging hook-shaped stop element and a cooperating cam edge arranged in erected leg position to respectively engage opposite sides of a contiguous rearward link section.

2. In a collapsible ironing table of the tripod leg type or the like adapted to automatically unfold into erected position, a top board, a pair of rear legs having corresponding ends pivotally attached to the bottom face of said board, a front leg pivotally attached to said face in a forward relation to the rear leg pivots, a toe pivot located adjacent the floor contacting region of the front leg, an intermediate pivot for each such rear leg, a pair of tie rods respectively interconnecting the toe pivot with said intermediate ivots, a pair of sectionalized brace links respectively interconnecting an ear pivot witha corresponding intermediate pivot and which links respectively assume toggle alignment in erected leg position, each such brace link comprising a forward section that between the ends thereof is toggle jointed to a rearward section to provide for a link projection, and a grippable cross piece fixedly bridging the respective link projections, one cross piece'terminal region being equipped with a cam edge disposed to frictionally thrust outwardly against a contiguous rearward link section when the respective brace links approach UDo K. JOHANNSEN. 

